6-Part Tutorial Series

SaltStack on Your VPS

From a single server to a fully managed fleet — configuration management, cloud provisioning, LAMP deployments, Docker orchestration, and production hardening with Salt.

6 integrated guides

~4 hours total

1+ VPS required

Start Part 1

What You'll Build

Foundation & Configuration

• Master/minion architecture with key management
• Declarative state files with YAML + Jinja2
• Cloud provisioning with Salt Cloud + OpenStack

Deployment & Production

• Full LAMP stack with role separation
• Docker and Compose management as code
• Orchestrated deployments with security hardening

Series Roadmap

Part 1: Installation and Master/Minion Architecture

30 min

Full install walkthrough for Ubuntu 22.04, master/minion config, key management, firewall rules, and first commands. Includes a troubleshooting checklist for connection issues.

Part 2: States, Formulas, and the SLS File Format

35 min

Covers top.sls, the full file structure, all core state modules (pkg, service, file, user, cmd), requisites, Jinja2 templating with grains, the Salt fileserver, test=True dry runs, and community formulas.

Part 3: Provisioning OpenStack Resources with Salt Cloud

35 min

Cloud providers/profiles setup, querying OpenStack for image/flavor/network IDs, single and multi-VM provisioning, map files, floating IPs, volume management, and userdata scripts.

Part 4: LAMP Stack Deployment via Salt States

40 min

Full Nginx + PHP-FPM + MariaDB deployment with role separation, Jinja-templated virtual host management driven by pillar data, and both single-server and split topologies.

Part 5: Docker and Container Management with Salt

35 min

Docker CE install from official repo, daemon config, container/image state management, Docker Compose deployment patterns, network/volume states, and cleanup automation.

Part 6: Pillars, Grains, Orchestration, and Hardening

50 min

GPG-encrypted pillars, advanced compound grain targeting, orchestration runner with rolling deployment, and full security hardening (SSH, sysctl, UFW, fail2ban, user management).

Prerequisites

• A RamNode VPS — 1GB ($6/mo) for the master is fine for small fleets; 2GB+ recommended for 20+ minions
• One or more additional VPS instances as minions
• Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 LTS
• SSH access to all servers
• Basic Linux command line knowledge